Architectural thinking, basic concepts, proportion systems, ideologies

Introduction into architecturalthinking from Vitruvius tot the 20th century. Acquaintance of basic concepts from the classical tradition such as the nature and the origins of architecture, its cosmological foundations, the anthropomorphous model, theories of harmony and proportion, its specific formal means. Basic components like building site, context and type, form and function. Knowledge of leading currents and themes from modern tradition, notably recurrent topics such as rationalism, functionalism and the relation of architecture with culture and ideology. Insight into the societal role and meaning of architecture.
Learning to write a paper on the basis of library search and comparative reading, with regard for the formal rules (footnotes, bibliography) wich will have to be applied in the Master's thesis.

• Introduction: Definition and subject matter
• Definitions of architecture
• Basic concepts: The origins of Architecture; Architecture and Cosmology; Proportion systems; Basic components; Basic aspects
• Selected topics Enlightenment: Copernican revolution; Perrault; Laugier, Piranesi, Boullée
• Selected topics 19th century: Rationalism; Eclecticism; Romanticism and Symbolism
• Selected topics 20th century: Early modernism; Modernism; Postmodernism
• Exercise: Study of an elective topic

History of Architecture 1

Cost: 4.0 EUR
Syllabus (Dutch) with Reader (Dutch, English, French).

• VITRUVIUS, De Architectura libri X (ca. 27 voor K.)Handboek bouwkunde, Athenaeum, Polak & Van Gennep, Amsterdam 1997 Nederlandse vertaling door Ton Peters.
• G. GERMAN, Einführung in die Geschichte der Architekturtheorie. Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft, Darmstadt, 1980.
• H.W. KRUFT, Geschichte der Architekturtheorie. C.H. Beck Verlag 1985.Engelse vertaling: History of Architectural Theory
• V. HART, ed., Paper Palaces, the Rise of the Renaissance Architectural Treatise, Yale UP, New Haven 1998.
• J. ONIANS, Bearers of Meaning, the Classical Orders in Antiquity, the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, Princeton U.P., 1988.
• J. GUILLAUME, ed., L'emploi des ordres dans l'architecture de la renaissance, Picard, Parijs 1992.
• F. FICHET, La théorie architecturale à l'age classique - essai d'anthologie critique, Mardage, Luik, 1979.
• J. RYKWERT, On Adam's house in paradise, MMA, New York, 1972.
• J. RYKWERT, The Dancing Column - On Order in Architecture, MIT Press, Cambridge Mass., 1996.

During classroom lectures.

Classroom lectures; Lab sessions

Evaluation during examination period (100%)

During examination period: oral closed-book exam, written preparation